wanderer55
Well-known member
Here's a shot of an Excel file I did to be able to compare ten of the 8x42mm roof prism bins for under $150.00 It might be of help to someone....... or not.
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Ten - 8x42mm Roof Prism Bins for under $150.00 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter wanderer55
- Start date
Great list. Thanks.
Another one to consider is new VISTA from Zen-Ray for $129. It is believed to be the same binoculars as Vortex Diamondback.
http://www.zen-ray.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=262
Another bino is Bushnell Trophy for $125. I don't see the 8x42 listed there. It does not phase coating and is most likely coated with aluminum on the prism. But for $125, it is not a bad deal
http://www.binoculars.com/binoculars/hunting-binoculars/bushnell10x42trophywaterprooffogproof.cfm
Another one to consider is new VISTA from Zen-Ray for $129. It is believed to be the same binoculars as Vortex Diamondback.
http://www.zen-ray.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=262
Another bino is Bushnell Trophy for $125. I don't see the 8x42 listed there. It does not phase coating and is most likely coated with aluminum on the prism. But for $125, it is not a bad deal
http://www.binoculars.com/binoculars/hunting-binoculars/bushnell10x42trophywaterprooffogproof.cfm
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wanderer55
Well-known member
I'm sure there are others. As I researched I found many and why I only limited 10 to the list I don't know, other than to pick the ones that seemed to have the most positive reviews.
From what I see the Swift Reliant seems to be the most features for the money, if it really has phase coatings. I'm sure that for the price it cannot have the best of everything, but it looks on paper like it is definitely better than the Nikon Trailblazer or the Bushnell Natureview. I was somewhat surprised to see that the Nikon and Bushnell have the least features and worst warranty.
It was just something I had done to be able to look at a bunch of them together and see the pros & cons.
From what I see the Swift Reliant seems to be the most features for the money, if it really has phase coatings. I'm sure that for the price it cannot have the best of everything, but it looks on paper like it is definitely better than the Nikon Trailblazer or the Bushnell Natureview. I was somewhat surprised to see that the Nikon and Bushnell have the least features and worst warranty.
It was just something I had done to be able to look at a bunch of them together and see the pros & cons.
Excellent post Wanderer. Very useful!
The price also reflects their overall construction. The solidly made Vortex Diamondback 8 x 42 has optical qualities as good (maybe better) than those shown but costs about $200.00. If you get a chance to handle one and look through it you will see what I mean.
As for Nikon's warranty. I think it is one of the best in the business. Last I checked the charge was a flat $25.00. And they also have many very inexpensive binoculars. I have had friends send back damaged inexpensive models and they were replaced with equivalent but newer models.
Bob
The price also reflects their overall construction. The solidly made Vortex Diamondback 8 x 42 has optical qualities as good (maybe better) than those shown but costs about $200.00. If you get a chance to handle one and look through it you will see what I mean.
As for Nikon's warranty. I think it is one of the best in the business. Last I checked the charge was a flat $25.00. And they also have many very inexpensive binoculars. I have had friends send back damaged inexpensive models and they were replaced with equivalent but newer models.
Bob
wanderer55
Well-known member
I see several promising ones like the Vortex, that are in the $200 range. I just wanted to try to list most of the cheapies that had favorable reviews. They may not be worth squat, but some people have to buy low end and there's not much info out there with comparisons like this. I may add on to it, or I may make one for "$150-$250" range. I don't know if I will, but I may.
The reason I said Nikon had a lousy warranty was because the website showed a 1 year warranty for that particular model, where most of the rest show a lifetime warranty. Maybe Nikon will fix anything for $25.00 for life, but I didn't see that listed for the model I had shown.
I'm not going to buy for myself, as I bought an 8x35mm porro for $9.00 and it will have to suffice for now, but I figure others are in much the same boat, so I went ahead and made the spreadsheet. If you have others you want me to do, just let me know and I can do some comparison figures on the ones you want......
spitfiretriple
Well-known member
Good list Wanderer
If you're willing to try experimenting with Excel, you might consider trying to get Excel to calculate FoV degrees given FoV. There's a formula kicking around somewhere involving "tangents" and "half-angles".
Hmm, maybe Wanderer has given us the seeds of a bigger project here more of us could get involved with? Listing all binoculars? And with Excel-type sorting fields? It would need to kept up-to-date to be useful of course. The main thing that would change would be prices. I suppose a whizz-kid could link the price-field automatically to somewhere like pricefinder or thefind but that's way beyond my ability.
If you're willing to try experimenting with Excel, you might consider trying to get Excel to calculate FoV degrees given FoV. There's a formula kicking around somewhere involving "tangents" and "half-angles".
Hmm, maybe Wanderer has given us the seeds of a bigger project here more of us could get involved with? Listing all binoculars? And with Excel-type sorting fields? It would need to kept up-to-date to be useful of course. The main thing that would change would be prices. I suppose a whizz-kid could link the price-field automatically to somewhere like pricefinder or thefind but that's way beyond my ability.
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wanderer55
Well-known member
Apparently a "General rule" is Linear FOV divided by 52.5 = Angular FOV. Close enough for horseshoes & Hand Grenades.
Of corse if you only know the Angular FOV, then Multiply it by 52.5. to get the Linear FOV.
Or just throw the Hand Grenade at it and you get a 360 degree FOV.:-O
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Kevin Purcell
Well-known member
FOV = 2*arctan(0.5*width/distance)
Where w is the width of the linear field at a distance d (don't forget to get them in the same usnits ... the US form is feet per 1000 yards). This is the exact solution.
For most bin calculations to two significant digits this one works OK
FOV = arctan(width/distance)
and you can do it at Google (with unit conversion) try a search on
arctan(430/3000) in degrees
http://www.google.com/search?&q=arctan(430/3000)+in+degrees
to see what I mean.
Where w is the width of the linear field at a distance d (don't forget to get them in the same usnits ... the US form is feet per 1000 yards). This is the exact solution.
For most bin calculations to two significant digits this one works OK
FOV = arctan(width/distance)
and you can do it at Google (with unit conversion) try a search on
arctan(430/3000) in degrees
http://www.google.com/search?&q=arctan(430/3000)+in+degrees
to see what I mean.
wanderer55
Well-known member
Actually, back when I went to school, you could get through with 2+2 so that's what I did. The answer is 4.:-O
So y'all might need someone else to do the formulas.......... sorry.
It looks like the chinese might be using the abacus formula for their specs, so it might all be a mute point on that "cheap stuff" anyhow.
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Martin Fagg
Guest
Or multiply by 17.5 if you want fov in m/1000m.
Wandering Man
New member
As to warranties, many companies that offer life-time warranties are very new and may or may not be around to service their warranty. After all, Springfield Armory went out of business and the new incarnation does not honor warranties from the earlier company. Nikon is not likely going anywhere, so they look at 50 years down the road and they are having to spend sizable amounts of money repairing ancient binos.
WM
WM
